Cotton-bale tie



April 8, 1924. 1,489,427

J. P. CROSS ET AL COTTON BALE TIE Filed May 9, 1923 mvmrons T P GrassC'rq ss A TTORNEYS Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' JAMES PERRY GROSS AND THOMAS GJCROSS, OFCROSS PLAINS, TEXAS.

COTTON-BALE TIE.

Application filed May 9,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, JAMES P. Cnoss andTHOMAS C. CRoss, both citizens of the United States, and residents ofCross Plains, in the county of Callahan and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to improvements in buckles, and more particularlythat type of buckle used to fasten the ties on a bale of cotton, and itconsists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements hereindescribed and claimed.

An object of our invention is to provide a buckle of the characterdescribed which may be quickly and easily applied without the useofspecial tools or jigs.

A further object of our invention is to.

provide a buckle of the character described which becomes more secure inits fastening as the strain upon the ties is increased.

A further object of our invention is to provide a buckle of thecharacter described which may be released from engagement 'with the tiesby striking a portion thereof with a hammer.

A further object of our invention is to provide a'buckle of thecharacter described that is constructed entirely of one piece of metal,which is durable, and which is thoroughly practical commercially.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel 7 features of the invention will be particularly pointedout in the appended claim.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming partof this application, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of anembodiment of our invention,

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the structure illustrated in Figure 1,and

Fi re 3 is a rear elevation of the structure illustrated in Figure 1.

In carrying out our invention, we make use of a tie band 1. There are aplurality of these tie bands used on a single bale of cotton and areplaced about the bale when the bale is in a highly pressed condition.The band 1 (see Figure 1) has its opposite ends 2 and 3 arranged in sucha manner as to rovide a loop. This is ordinarily done by bending back aportion of the extremities of the ends 2 and 3 and riveted, or otherwisefixing the bent back portions 1923. Serial No. 637,869.

against movement away from one another. In the present embodiment of ourinvention, we have shown rivets 4 employed for this purpose.

Our improved buckle consists in a substantially U-shaped member 5 of ahard metal. This U-shaped member 5has a laterally extending portion 6upon one of its legs 7 thereof, andahook-shaped member 8 at theextremity of the opposite leg 9. The hook member 8, as reference toFigures2 and 3 will show, is formed by bending a portion of the leg 9back upon itself and leaving a slight space between the adjacent sidesof the leg in the bent portion, so that that portion 10 of the tie band1 immediate- 1y adjacent the end 3, may be partially encompassed by thehook member.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood. In employing our improvedbuckle, it is first necessary to compress the bale of cotton or othermaterial which it is desired to tie. The tie band 1 is thereupon fixedin place about the bale so that the loops formed at the ends 2 and 3 arein registration with one another. The leg 7 of the U-shaped member 5 isthereupon projected through the first loop at the end 2 and subsequentlythrough the loop at the end 3 of the tie band.

The U-shaped member 5 is then moved so that the hook-shaped member 8partially en gages with the outer edge 11 of the end 3 of the tie band1, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The buckle is thereupon fastened andwhen pressure upon the bale is released, the buckle will securely holdthe ends 2 and 3 of the tie band 1 in close proximity with one anotherin the position shown in Figure 1.

When it is desired to release the buckle and free the ends Q-and 3 ofthe tie band 1 from one another, it is merely necessary to strike theU-shaped member 5 at a point on its outer edge marked S, whereupon theU- shaped member will assume the position shown in dotted lines inFigure 3, it having previously been disposed in the position shown infull lines in Figure 3. The operator may become skilled in the strikingof the portion S of the U-shaped member 5, so that at the same time theU-shaped member is struck with the hammer, the side 9 of the U- shapedmember will move away from the portion 10 of the band 1 and the strainupon the band by virtue of the expanding cotton,

will cause the U-shaped member to be swung in such a position that theleg 7 may be easily moved longitudinally out of engagement with theloops at the ends 2 and 3 of the tie band. r

We claim:

The combination with a bale tie band having cooperating ends, of asubstantially flat rigid U-shaped member, one leg of said U-shapedmember being arranged to engage with each of the ends of said tie band,said leg having a laterally extending lug at the end thereof to preventunintentional dislodgement of said ends from said leg, the remaining legof said U-shaped member being provided with a hook portion having itswork engaging wall with the adjacent lateral edge of the adjacent end ofsaid tie band, said hook being disposed at the outermost end of saidremaining leg.

JAMES PERRY CROSS.

THOMAS C. CROSS.

